Where have all the flowers gone?

Garden Fresh Risotto with Crispy Prosciutto, Chard, and Zucchini Blossoms
Summer gardens are just starting to yield amazing produce in these parts, and ingredients I wouldn't usually get my hands on are becoming available. Take zucchini blossoms, for example. They aren't the type of thing I can usually just pick up at the grocery store as easily as onions or apples. Lucky for me, my gardening-obsessed colleague had an abundance of these lovely and rather delicate orange blossoms. In addition to the zucchini blossoms, he sent me home with a bag brimming with crisp green chard, a juicy green bell pepper, and fragrant basil leaves. I originally intended to throw all this lovely produce into a pasta dish, but when I found my gluten-sensitive friend, Arin, would be joining me for dinner, I decided on a creamy, flavorful risotto dish instead. This is an elegant, but pretty simple meal that makes the most of this season's best produce. Enjoy!

Ingredients
- 1 lb. Arborio rice
- 7 oz. prosciutto, torn into small pieces
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 large handful fresh chard, stems removed and leaves torn into small pieces
- 8-10 fresh zucchini blossoms, stamens removed, and roughly chopped
- 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- i small handful Italian parsley, chopped
- 6 c. warmed chicken broth
- 2 c. dry white wine
- 2 Tbsp. cooking sherry
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- 1 c. shredded Manchego cheese
- salt and pepper

Melt butter in a large, heavy stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add torn pieces of prosciutto and cook until it begins to crisp and turn brown. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Turn heat down and add zucchini blossoms and chard leaves. Cook for 1-2 minutes until they turn soft and fragrant.

Remove from heat and reserve with cooked prosciutto. Add shallot and bell pepper to pan (if it is dry all a tablespoon of olive oil). Stir over medium heat until the shallot and pepper begins to soften and turn very fragrant. De-glaze pan with cooking sherry and scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add rice to the pan with 1 c. of warmed chicken broth and white wine. Stir over medium until the liquid soaks into the rice and begins to evaporate. Slowly add the remaining broth about a half cup at a time, stirring frequently to help the liquid absorb. (If the rice is still tough after adding all the broth, add a little water to keep moist.) Turn heat to low, add cream and shredded cheese and stir to combine. Turn off heat and add chopped herbs, prosciutto, zucchini blossoms, and chopped chard. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Eat up! Yum.

Farmers Market Fun Part II

Fussili Pasta with Jalapeño Cheese Sauce, Sausage, and Swiss Chard
My second trip to this summer's Farmers Market was a wet, but wholly inspirational one. Summer's bounty is becoming more and more glorious as the weeks go by and I was thrilled to find numerous booths packed with fragrant herbs, bright leafy greens, and colorful berries. This meal started as we strolled by the same farm that provided the excellent pepper bacon for June's Carbonara recipe. A pound of Hot Italian sausage and brick of creamy Havarti cheese later, I was well on my way to crafting this green-packed, herby pasta dish. This was a quick and easy meal to put together and full of some of the summer's most distinctive flavors.

Ingredients
- l lb. hot Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 
- 2 c. grated jalapeño Havarti (or a good quality pepper jack cheese)
- 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed and leaves torn into large pieces
- 1 lb. dried fussili pasta
- 5 spring onions, trimmed and sliced into bite-sized pieces (both white and green pieces)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
- salt and pepper
- 2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 c. heavy cream
- 1 c. of milk


Bring a large heavy pot of water to a rolling boil, salt it thoroughly. Cook pasta to package directions, about 9 minutes. After the pasta boils for about 7 minutes, add the chard to blanch. Drain water, reserving about a cup of the pasta water. Set aside. If you time this right, the cheese sauce should be finished about the same time the pasta and chard are cooked. While the water is coming to a boil, brown sausage in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-heat, about 5-7 minutes. When it is cooked through, remove from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving the drippings in the pan. Put sausage in a large serving bowl and set aside.

Add butter and chopped onions to sausage drippings and cook over medium heat until the onions soften slightly, about 3-4 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook and additional minute.
 Reduce heat to medium-low and add flour. Whisk for 1 minute. Slowly add milk and cream to the flour mixture and continue whisking until a thick, smooth, creamy sauce forms. Add grated cheeses, Tabasco sauce, pepper flakes, and mustard and whisk over low heat until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. 



Add the drained pasta and chard to the cooked sausage in the serving bowl and pour about half of the warm cheese sauce over the mixture. Toss with tongs to combine ingredients, then pour the remaining sauce and toss again to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed in. If the sauce is dry add some of the pasta cooking liquid about a 1/4 c. at a time. Toss in the fresh herbs and serve with additional Parmesan cheese.

Leftover Makeover: Day 2

Stuffing and Sweet Potato Bread Pudding
Once again, I surveyed the storage containers in the fridge for some inspiration. So what about all of those leftover rolls? The delicious stuffing? Any extra sweet potatoes? Bread puddings are a great and savory way to make use of . . . well . . . bread. It's also a great item for a family brunch- a spin on those leftovers to feed straggling house guests something new and delicious. It's easy to whip up and (as the "Leftover Makeover" theme indicates) a great use of a variety of Thanksgiving leftovers. Enjoy!

Ingredients
- 4 dinner rolls, torn into small pieces
- 2 lbs. sweet potatoes, cubed into 1 1/2" pieces
- 2 c. leftover stuffing
- 2 bunches rainbow chard, stems removed, torn into small pieces
- 2 large shallots, peeled and minced
- 2 c. half and half
- 2 Tbsp. turkey gravy
- 7 eggs
- 1 c. sherry
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- 2 c. grated gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and toss the cubed sweet potatoes with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Make sure cubes are completely covered. Roast sweet potatoes for about 20-25 minutes until they become soft and brown slightly.

While sweet potatoes are roasting, whisk together half and half, eggs, gravy, and sherry. Add torn bread pieces and stuffing. Mix together and season with salt and pepper. Let rest for about 15-20 minutes so the egg mixture can soak into the bread.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add shallots and saute until they begin to soften and turn translucent. Add torn chard pieces and mix together. Season with salt and pepper and cook until chard begins to wilt and turns brights green. Remove from heat.

Turn oven down to 375˚ F. Spray a 13x9" baking pan with a cooking spray. Using a slotted spoon, cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of egg-soaked bread pieces using half the mixture. Cover mixture with half the cooked chard and sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Make a second layer of bread, potatoes, chard, and cheese. Pour remaining egg mixture over everything and cover baking sheet with foil. Bake in oven for about 25-30 minutes until mixture becomes springy and egg is cooked through. Remove foil and cook an additional 5-10 minutes for that cheese on top is brown and bubbly.